The present invention relates to a process control transmitter. In particular, it relates to a process seal for a process control transmitter.
Transmitters which sense pressure typically have a pressure sensor coupled to at least one isolation diaphragm. The isolation diaphragm isolates the pressure sensor from corrosive process fluids being sensed. Pressure is transferred from the isolation diaphragm to the sensor having a sensing diaphragm through a substantially incompressible isolation fluid carried in a passageway. U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,922 entitled MODULAR PRESSURE TRANSMITTER and U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,109 entitled PRESSURE TRANSMITTER WITH STRESS ISOLATION DEPRESSION show pressure transmitters of this type.
The process fluid sealing mechanism for a transmitter should be operable in a wide range of chemical environments, temperature ranges and stress conditions and work well over a broad range of pressures. Teflon® and other fluorocarbons are among the preferred sealing compounds. Hastelloy®, 316 stainless steel and other corrosion resistant materials are preferred as construction materials for wetted surfaces. While these materials have very good corrosion resistance properties, their mechanical properties, such as yield strength of the corrosion resistant alloys and the resistance to extrusion of the sealing materials, are marginal at best. Sealing material tends to extrude when subjected to high pressures and temperatures. For this reason, the sealing material must be treated as a gasket. To form effective seals with gaskets, it is usually necessary to have a sealing material with a large surface area under significant compression. The stress from compression is mechanically coupled to the isolation diaphragm and ultimately to the sensing diaphragm of the pressure transmitter. The amount of stress can vary over time as mounting bolts loosen or are re-torqued, and as the gasket sealing material extrudes. These changes result in instabilities in the pressure sensor output.
To minimize the stress coupled to the process isolation diaphragm, it is preferred to separate the diaphragm from the sealing mechanism to provide stress isolation. However, practical considerations make stress isolation of the diaphragm difficult. Industry standards and the requirement of backward compatibility with existing products dictate the size, location and pattern of the bolts and pressure ports of the assembly. The overall geometry of the transmitter limits the space that must be shared by the process sealing gaskets and the isolating diaphragms. The process isolation diaphragms must fit within the boundaries defined by the bolt pattern. Space within the bolt boundary used for sealing is generally unavailable for isolation diaphragms. It is frequently undesirable to reduce the size of the isolation diaphragms because smaller isolation diaphragms are more sensitive to stress coupling and therefore instabilities result.
Tradeoffs must typically be made among the several competing needs of the pressure transmitter design: 1) the need for large compliant diaphragms; 2) the need for diaphragms that are well isolated from the stresses of the sealing mechanism; 3) the need for a sealing mechanism that has sufficient surface area; 4) the need for a sealing mechanism held together with sufficient force to be reliable; and 5) the constraint that all structures fit within the boundary defined by the bolt pattern.
One technique which addresses some of these concerns is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,675, which issued Sep. 21, 1999 to Peterson entitled SELF ENERGIZING PROCESS SEAL FOR PROCESS CONTROL TRANSMITTER which is commonly assigned with the present application. This reference describes a technique in which process pressure is used to assist in sealing a process seal to a flange. The process seal has a ring shape and sealing material is coupled to the ring along its inner diameter. The ring is adapted to force the sealing material into contact with the flange to prevent process fluid from leaking past the seal. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,922,965 and 6,055,863, entitled PRESSURE SENSOR AND TRANSMITTER HAVING A WELD RING WITH AROLLING HINGE POINT, and PRESSURE SENSOR AND TRANSMITTER HAVING A WELD RING WITH A ROLLING HINGE POINT, issued Jul. 13, 1999 and May 2, 2000, respectively, also describe process seals.